Authors (including presenting author) :
Mo KC(1), Poon KH(1), Tsang HC(1), To YL(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Physiotherapy Department, North District Hospital (NDH)
Introduction :
Literature revealed that up to 38% of patients developed new sarcopenia after hospitalization and sarcopenia is associated with increased risk of future hospitalization and mortality.
To break the vicious cycle, calf circumference or the SARC-F were suggested by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 on case-finding and physical training has been shown to improve muscle and physical functions in sarcopenic patients.
Objectives :
To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia in a sample of elderly patients who completed Integrated Care and Discharge Support for the Elderly Patients (ICDS) home-based physiotherapy training program after hospitalization, according to patients’ gender, recruitment site, or underlying disease condition.
Methodology :
A cross-sectional study was conducted with clinical data of patients who completed ICDS program from June to November 2024 analyzed retrospectively.
Result & Outcome :
31 patients had completed the ICDS program over a six-month period. The majority (55%, n=17) were recruited from the "Geriatric front-door" program, while 45% (n=14) were recruited from medical wards. The sample consisted of 65% (n=20) females with mean age of 78.8±8.1. The most common conditions were falls (29%), followed by knee osteoarthritis (19%), cardiac disease (19%), neurological disease (19%) and low back pain (13%).
According to the AWGS 2019 criteria, 27.3% male and 35% female were found to have sarcopenia. Comparisons between male and female patients revealed no statistically significant difference in SARC-F scores (male: 2.9±2.0; female: 3.3±2.8, p=0.686) or calf circumference (male: 32.8±1.8; female: 32.8±3.5, p=0.955) after completing the ICDS program.
According to the AWGS 2019 criteria, 29.4% patients from emergency department and 35.7% patients from medical wards were found to have sarcopenia. Comparisons between patients recruited from the emergency department and medical wards showed no statistically significant difference in SARC-F scores (emergency: 2.8±2.4; medical: 3.6±2.7, p=0.342) or calf circumference (emergency: 31.6±3.3; medical: 34.1±2.5, p=0.063) after completing the ICDS program.
Comparisons among different disease groups (falls, knee osteoarthritis, low back pain, cardiac disease, and neurological disease) revealed no statistically significant difference (p=0.573) in prevalence of sarcopenia, according to SARC-F scores, when patients completed the ICDS training.
Eight-week ICDS physiotherapy training aims to improve muscle and physical functions in post-hospitalized elderly patients, regardless of gender, recruitment site, or underlying disease condition. Further studies with larger sample sizes and longitudinal design are needed to explore the effect of post-discharge support on muscle and physical performance, suitable community-based physical training is warranted in supporting ‘aging in place’.
